Not Alone
by TheBlondeBrunette
Summary: 'I am here. I am with you, I will carry you you through it all'. James Barnes was never alone. The Winter Soldier was known for having a partner as mysterious and elusive as himself; a white-haired, short woman known only as The Silver Shadow. Trigger Warnings for the first eight chapters. For dark and disturbing themes. Please don't read if easily triggered.
1. Nicolette

She knew she shouldn't have been out that late at night. It was only asking for trouble, but she couldn't help herself, She'd had another nightmare.

~8~

 _Warm, soft, sweet kisses trailed up her arm, leaving a warm feeling behind each kiss as they pressed their way up her neck and to her lips_

 _"Nikki..."_

 _"Hmm...?"_

 _"Time to get up, darling."_

 _"Nnooo..." She drawled sleepily, rolling onto her stomach and shoving her head underneath her pillow_

 _Hot breath cascaded over Nikki's exposed shoulder as her husband chuckled, making goosebumps spread over her pale skin and a shudder of warmth to pass over her._

 _"C'mon, doll. Today's our special day. You gotta get up, I've got breakfast waiting for you in the kitchen..."_

 _"James...Sleeeep..."_

 _"Nikki...Foooood...Don't make me carry you out." James teased, wrapping his large hands around his wife's tiny waist_

 _Pulling her head out from under the pillow, Nikki glared halfheartedly, her messy hair only adding to the overall effect of a not-a-morning-person. Making her husband chuckle again._

 _"You wouldn't dare."_

 _Smiling challengingly, James tightened his grip before pulling Nikki out and over his broad shoulder, laughing at the loud shriek she let out as she halfheartedly kicked at his chest_

 _"JAMES!"_

 _"Yes, Mrs Barnes?"_

 _"Put me down!"_

 _James put on his best thinking face, pinning down Nikki's legs before spinning her around in small circles laughing joyously as Nikki's protests started falling away into giggles, mingling with his own._

 _"I don't think I will. I like you there."_

 _"James, come on. I'm going to be sick." She giggled, wrapping her arms around his waist upside-down, pressing her face into his back._

 _After a minute, James gently set her down, waiting for her to readjust her skimpy nightgown before dragging her into the kitchen_

 _"Alright, Nikki, close your eyes and don't open them till I say..." James stood behind her, covering Nikki's eyes with his hands, making sure she didn't peek_

 _"Aaaaannnd Viola!" Snatching his hands away, James revealed a sunshine lit kitchen, with a perfect French breakfast sitting innocently on the table_

 _Nikki gasped, turning to where James was and hugging him_

 _"Oh James, Mon amour, thank you. where - how - Where did you get the money for this?"_

 _"You just worry about eating those croissant aux abricots. Okay doll?" James shrugged off, before guiding Nikki to the table, pulling out her chair and sitting her down.  
"I managed to get the day off today...Danny's filling in for me. So, what do you want to do today?"_

 _Nikki thought for a minute, going over what they could do  
"Well...Why don't we just stay in? Maybe go out for dinner later. What do you think?"_

 _"I think, that that sounds perfect." James beamed, leaning over the small table to kiss her cheek_

 _"_ Joyeux anniversaire _, Mon mari. Je t'aime."_

 _"Happy anniversary, Darling. I love you too."_

 _~8~_

Perhaps 'nightmare' isn't the right word. For Nicolette, it was an amazing dream. Their first wedding anniversary. It was a memory that she loved to remember, even if that breakfast tasted like a five year old cooked it. But that wasn't why she was out walking in the dead of night. The reason she was so very sad and distraught was because after being immersed inside that wonderful memory, she awoke to find herself in a cold dark room, no James holding her to his warm chest, no reassuring whispers in her ear that she was safe. Nicolette was coldly reminded that she was alone once again.

After crying stifled sobs, Nicolette couldn't stand being inside her and James' apartment another second, so she pulled on a pair of shoes and one of James' old coats and went out on a two a.m. walk. Bittersweetly looking back on all her favorite memories with James

Nicolette was in the middle of remembering their wedding day when a sharp pain exploded in the back of her head, black instantly swarming her vision.

SUPER SHORT I KNOW! I SOWWY! :'(

LEMME KNOW WHAT Y'ALL THINK!

Love ya 3 3 3


	2. Hydra

A/N: The song for this chapter is Tell Your Heart To Beat Again, by Danny Gokey

* * *

When Nicolette came to, she found herself to be in the back of car with no windows in the back seat and four intimidating-looking men talking amongst themselves in German

"Where am I? Who are you?!" Nicolette asked, her voice scared and trembling

Two men in the front of the car kept their eyes forward while the two in the back with Nicolette answered, "We're taking you to Hydra headquarters. Once there you will be blindfolded before we go into the building, we will escort inside the building where you will meet with Dr. Zola and be reunited with your precious little husband." The one in the passenger seat said, smirking like he knew something bad was coming

"What do you mean? James is dead. He died a long time ago." She demanded, trying to sound tough and demanding despite being a 5'0" petite blonde with a french accent

"Just shut up, wait until we get there to start your incessant and mindless chatter." The man on her left muttered under his breath, his German accent grating on Nicolette's ears

"I demand that you let me go, this instant!" She screamed, thrashing around as the men grabbed her and pinned down her arms "Laissez-moi, vous bâtards Hydra!"

The agent glowered, clearly not understanding what she said, but feeling offended anyway, he grabbed Nicolette by the throat, squeezing just hard enough to hurt

"Care to repeat that in English Missy?" "josef , sie gehen lassen , wir brauchen sie intakt Dr. Zola . "" Aber Kommandant(2) "Now Josef!" Josef let go of her neck, but not before giving it a hard squeeze that was sure to bruise, she didn't understand what they said, but she figured it had to do with letting go of her neck, for which she was thankful for

"Kleine Schlampe , sie verdient alles, was zu ihr kommen ist"(3) He muttered, before finally letting go of her neck, leaving her gasping for precious oxygen to enter her depraved lungs.

''''''

About a two hours and an plane ride later, Nicolette was blindfolded and shoved into another nondescript vehicle and they drove for another three hours before stopping

Nicolette was guided into a cold building, the four men on either side of her, boxing her in. Not that she could've gotten away without them there, being blindfolded with a mutation like hers leaves one very reliant on sight. Nicolette relied heavily on her mutation, her eyes, a glowing blue, allowed her to see in the dark, and was able to manipulate another persons vision, she can make someone see something that wasn't really there if she wanted.

"Ah, my älskling systerdotter(Darling niece), I have been waiting anxiously for you. I believe you are wishing to know why you are here?" The blindfold was pulled away and Nicolette was greeted with the a blinding whit light and the face of someone Nicolette hated passionately. Doctor Arnim Zola. Her uncle. Through marriage of course, what her aunt Bianca saw in a 5'3" Swiss with a receding hairline, Nicolette didn't know. But of course, Bianca always was the strange one in the Leclair family.

"Of course this was orchestrated by you mon cher oncle(my dear uncle)," Nicolette spat, "I haven't seen you since before my aunt 'mysteriously' disappeared along with the other half of my so called 'gifted' family members. I believe I have you to thank for that." Nicolette stepped closer to her evil uncle, getting as close as possible before the guards seized her arms, effectively stopping her from getting any closer, "Now, what is this about my husband still being alive?"

''''''

Zola led Nicolette through a maze a hallways, possibly trying to confuse her with all the twists and turn so that she won't even try to escape. He should know better, he was aware of her mutated vision.

Along with being able to mess with another persons sight, Nicolette had enhanced vision. She was able to see a fly buzzing around from one-hundred yards, she can easily see slight differences in the different hallways. The one we just walked through had a slight scratch on the left wall. Or that the first one they walked through had a scuff mark about seven feet into the hallway.

"We have had him since he was first thought dead, Hydra found him at the bottom of a ravine in the alps. We saved his life. You should feel grateful for what Hydra has done-"

"Grateful?" She scoffed, coming to an abrupt halt, forcing Zola to stop as well. "I should feel grateful that you poisoned my aunts mind? That you experimented on her? On the other members of my family that had special powers. That Hydra killed the ones that didn't. That Hydra left me without any family save for an older sister whom you killed a couple years later. A mere child. Left alone in the Americas to fend for herself. Of course, forgive me uncle, Thank you so very much for ruining my life and my family." She spoke calmly, breathing heavily and glaring Zola down.

The little coward looked around the hallway for any Hydra agent but when he saw none, clearly intimidated, he changed tactics.

"My älskling systerdotter, please, follow me and I'll take you to dein ehemann(your Husband), and you will be able to talk in private and discuss anything important...I am sure you have a lot to talk about."

Nicolette followed her evil uncle, knowing that he had something up his tweed-clad sleeve. That he wasn't telling everything.

After walking down the same hallway for the third time, they came to a large steel door that had seven different locks on it. Nicolette figured that this must be where they'd put James.

She was shaking, trying to contain her anger at the thought of Hydra locking James up like a dog. How dare they?!

Her hands were in tight fists, nails digging into her skin harshly, leaving small crescent marks and thin trails of blood, and after a full minute Zola finished unlocking the last lock.

"I must warn you, what you will see in there is very...traumatizing."

'What have they done to my James?'

"He is still recovering from his fall."

Zola finally opened the door.

Nicolette stepped hesitantly in, followed by Zola who closed the steel door behind himself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~''

Translations

(1) " Laissez-moi, vous bâtards Hydra!" "Let me go, you Hydra bastards!"

(2)"sie gehen lassen , wir brauchen sie intakt Dr. Zola . "" Aber Kommandant == Josef, let her go, we need them intact for Dr. Zola . " " But Commander-"

(3) "Kleine Schlampe , sie verdient alles, was zu ihr kommen ist" == " Little bitch , she deserves everything that has come to her "

From google translate, don't put too much trust in the translations!


	3. James

A/N: The song for this chapter is, Not Alone, by Red. Enjoy the chapter!

* * *

The first thing she noticed was the smell.

The whole room reeked of death and decay, the smell alone made her want to turn tail and leave, but she knew that, if James was here, she could never leave him. No matter what Hydra did to him. Or what they'd do to her.

After fighting with herself about whether or not she was ready, she took a deep breath and was able to finally look around the room.

It was dark and dank and bleak. The lighting was poor, light bulbs flickering every so often, emitting a ill colored yellow. There were stainless steel tables and stools all around the room, all of them covered in tools. Some medical. Others regular tools, like a hammer, and a chisel. But all of them shared one thing; were covered in the same liquid.

Blood.

Fresh. Old. It didn't matter. It was all the same. The same putrid smell permeated throughout the damp cell-like room.

Nicolette could only guess whose blood was painted across the walls and floor.

 _No. Please. Not him. Anyone but him._

And finally, after looking over the tools came the one thing that completed the room's nightmare-ish look, was a cot.

It was small, and looked hard and uncomfortable. Like a medical table.

She swallowed heavily, walking closer to the bed, and she saw was something that would would never forget. No matter how many times she tried.

Because, lying there, on the metal medical cot, was James Buchanan 'Bucky' Barns. Her long lost husband

"J...James?" Nicolette had always preferred James to Bucky. He always said that he thought it sounded cute and funny whenever she tried to call him Bucky. Said that her accent was adorable, and then he'd grab her hands and press a kiss to the back of each one before telling her how much he loved her. But she still preferred James, loving the way he responded to it.

"James?"

Her only response was a low, almost inaudible groan

"James!" She cried in relief

"N'cole'te...?"

Nodding her head quickly, even though she knew his eyes were closed " **Oui** , **mon mari** , **je suis ici**.(Yes, my husband, I'm here.)" Nicolette grabbed his bruised, bloody and cold hand and squeezed ever so lightly. He was such a mess, she didn't want to risk harming him anymore.

' _Hydra will pay for what they've done to my James_.' She thought venomously

" **Ouvre tes yeux, mon cheri**.(Open your eyes, my darling.)" she whispered lovingly in his ear, causing James to turn his head.

"He is responsive." Zola stated from behind Nicolette, a clipboard in hand "Most interesting."

She turned swiftly to face him, a confused glared fixed on her face "Responsive? What do you mean?"

"Simply that, until now, he has not made any noises or acknowledged any of scientists outside of when the operations take place, other than his name, rank and serial number."

Keeping James' hand clasped softly yet firmly, Nicolette took a single step closer to Zola, glaring. "What kind of operations?"

"Well, Hydra needs all the information we can get. Sargent Barnes may be resilient, but enough force can make anyone talk."

She squeezed his hand tighter, her anger showing plain as day on her face. "Leave us, uncle." She turned back towards her tortured, and barely conscious love.

Zola opened his mouth to speak, but Nicolette quickly sent the nastiest glare she could muster his way. He nodded slightly, before scurrying out the door.

Nicolette listened as all seven locks locked and Zola's footsteps faded away.

"James? Darling, you need to open your eyes for me. Can you do that?" She asked softly, gently pushing back some hair from his brow, before dragging her hand softly from his brow to his sunken, stubble-y cheek

 _have they fed him even once?_

"James. **Regardez-moi , ouvrir ces beaux yeux bleus que je aime tant. Je sais que tu peux** (1)."She encouraged, knowing that he could understand her...At least she hoped he still could, who knows what those Hydra bastards did to him.

James groaned in pain, his sweaty forehead wrinkling before he cracked one eye open. Making Nicolette sigh in relief

Placing her other hand to his opposite cheek, she in leaned closer, knowing that he couldn't quite focus yet.

Nicolette zoned in on all the cuts and scrapes on his face, taking in every small change that would be otherwise unnoticeable to naked eye. Sometimes, like now, She wished she didn't have unnatural eyesight, she didn't really want to see what Hydra did to her husband, and yet, she did.

Opening his other eye, James looked up at the short blonde, first with shock and relief, then with anger and pain, which shocked Nicolette almost as much as when she first saw him lying on the table, bloody gauze wrapped around his chest and left arm and scars littering all visible parts of his body.

"...James...?" She tentatively asked, unsure about the look of pure hatred James' giving her. Making her feel like she did something wrong

James moved his head to face the wall. Away from Nicolette, and she dropped his hands in disbelief, she didn't know what to do, for Nicolette, her husband had been dead for a long time, and now that he wasn't...He wouldn't even look at her.

"James...?"

He started to shake his head "No, no. You're not real." He whispered delusionally

He continued to babble on about Hydra while Nicolette was just trying to figure out what he meant by 'This is new. Never tried this tactic before.'. Until it made sense.

"You don't think I am really Nicolette...do you?" she asked, heartbrokenly, knowing now that that was the reason behind his anger. She'll just have to prove to him that she was really who she says she is.

"James, it is me, it is your Nikki-!" "DON'T! Don't lie to me. Not about this. Not about Nicolette." Hot tears rolled down her face as James began to whisper hoarsely, over and over 'Not her. Not her.'. It broke her heart in half to see just how broken her darling James was.

"I am not lying to you, Ma chere (My darling), Hydra found me and brought me to you." She whimpered, heart aching when James shook his head frantically, even though the motion was obviously painful.

"Please. Please stop. I'll tell Hydra everything. Just...Leave her out of this...Please" He begged. The only other time she'd heard James beg was when he asked her to marry him. He actually got on his knees and grabbed her hands, kissing them between every sentence.

"I'm not lying to you James, I will prove it. there has to be something not even Hydra could possibly know that I do, like how I know that I am the only person other then your parents that you let call you James. I know that in the morning, you prefer sausage to bacon, but any other time you will want bacon. I know that your favorite thing to do at home is to read to me, you say that you like the way I cuddle up to you and almost always fall asleep on you" Nicolette was in a frenzy, _why doesn't he believe me?_ She ran through everything she knew about her husband and belted them out as soon as the memory surfaced

"You hate it when another guy so much as looks at me, you will always put your arm around me and glare at them until they look away. Your first words to me after I moved from France was 'You're pretty' At our wedding, you forgot my middle name and instead of skipping over it, you tried to remember it, you ended up calling me Nicolette Genevieve Barnes, before you remembered that my last name was still LeClair at the time." She rushed out, hardly breathing, knowing that she needed to convince him that he's not being lied to above anything else.

"You like to hold my hand before falling asleep. It never mattered how close we were, you had to hold it to fall asleep." Random tidbits were now flowing from her mouth, anything that she could think of was immediately said. "You adore my height because I always need you to get something from a high shelf, and you love being my **chevalier dans une armure brillante** (Knight in shining armor)."

Throughout her attempt to get James to believe her, Nicolette didn't notice his eyes widening or his breathing go erratic as he began to realize that she was telling the truth.

"You convinced me to teach you French so that you could understand what I was saying when I hurt myself doing dishes or when I'd focus on something and start talking to you in my native language. You were so excited when you finally mastered the basics, that you started using it whenever we were together, ans you a;ways thought it was funny when I would scrunch up my nose at your American accent speaking French," She sniffled.

James looked at her and she finally noticed his hyperventilating and she stopped her spiel. "You hate it when...James?"

He locked his eyes with hers, "Nikki...?" Nicolette smiled ever so slightly, " **Oui mon amour, elle est moi** (Yes my love, it's me). I'm so sorry that I wasn't here sooner. If I had known...I would have-" James cut Nicolette off, grabbing her and pulling her to him, even as he winced in pain when she landed on top of him.

"Umph! James! don't, please, you are hurt. Don't make it worse on yourself." Nikki whispered, trying to get off him even though every limb in her body protested moving away from her James.

"It doesn't matter. You're here. That's all that matters." She smiled at his American accent saying his pet name for her in french. He grinned slightly before grimacing in pain, but tightened his hold when Nikki shifted, trying to get off. "you're here, with me. I need to feel you near me. I need to know that you're real, darling. Please."

Having not seen Him in what seemed like forever, Nikki allowed herself this comfort. "I missed you so, so much, Mon amour, I didn't know what to do. It was so hard, and I couldn't take it anymore. I just - I thought you were dead. I didn't... I couldn't...

"But all that does not matter anymore. You're alive." She smiled, tear tracks running down her cheeks, "You're alive. And here. And I'm with you. And _that_ is all that matters. je t'aime, James. So, so very much."

James gripped Nikki tighter with his right arm, his left still wrapped in gauze at his side. Concealed from view.

* * *

TRANSLATIONS

(1) Regardez-moi , ouvrir ces beaux yeux bleus que je aime tant. Je sais que tu peux == Look at me, open those beautiful blue eyes that I love so much. I know you can


	4. Just Slightly Different

A/N: The song for this chapter is 'Worn' by Tenth Avenue North

They stayed like that for longer then they could count, savoring the feeling of being intertwined with one another once again. Lost in the emotional high of being reunited after so much time and pain.

Content to stay wrapped up his arms forever. Safe and loved. Safe from pain and hurt. Loved in every sense of the word. Nicolette never, ever wanted be separated from her beloved ever again.

"...Nikki..." James muttered, the word rumbling inside his chest, filling Nikki with a sense of euphoria at the familiar feeling, having woken up to it countless times before...before the war...before everything...

"Yes, darling?" The ability to say those words again...

"Nikki, There is something I need you to know." He took a deep breath, steadying himself "Something important..."

Nikki looked upward, a look of concern painting her face, "What is it Mon Amour?" She asked,

James looked at her with trepidation, like he was scared. But over what, Nikki didn't know "When I fell...I didn't get off scott free. " She looked at him, only barely pulling away from his chest, worry bubbling up inside her as her eyes drifted to his left side where his arm was pinned to his body.

"...James...?" "Nikki, just...just don't be scared. Please." Nikki nodded her head feverishly, assuring him that nothing he did would ever scare her, and she quickly helped him to sit up

James reached his bloody right hand to his left shoulder, wincing at the motion. "Let me chéri, don't hurt yourself more than Hydra already has. Please" She pleaded, placing a soothing hand on top of his, and James let his hand fall with a sigh, allowing Nikki to unwrap the gauze carefully.

The first thing she noticed, was how hard his left arm was, it felt unnatural, but she brushed off the thought.

The next thing was the metallic gleam that shown from under the gauze. Making her feel uneasy. But she didn't stop.

Nicolette looked deeply into James' eyes until all the gauze came off. And what she saw shocked Nicolette beyond my wildest dream.

It was...Gone.

His whole arm...was gone. Replaced by metal.

She tried to open her mouth to try and speak, but nothing came out. She knew James was carefully watching her reaction. Looking for something, but what, she do not know. Perhaps fear? Or disgust. Anger? If that is what he looking for, then he found it. Just not directed at him. Never him.

"When I fell, my arm was damaged beyond repair and when Hydra found me in the bottom of that ravine, half unconscious, they brought me here and replaced my real arm with this." Nikki saw James glare at his arm out of the corner of her eye "I woke up in the middle of the operation. It hurt like hell."

She reached out to gently touch his new limb, but he flinched away before could even graze it "Don't." "James, I am not scared of you. I will never be scared of you. Just for you, Mon chéri. This does not change anything, I will still love you the same, I will still call you my husband.

Nothing could ever change that. Please. Do not shy away from me." she pleaded, looking into his eyes only for him to turn the other way, "Mon amour, look at me, please." She felt the sting of tears welling up in her eyes, burning heat running down her face at his reluctance

But James simply shook his head, jaw clenching.

Nikki looked at his shoulder where metal met flesh, it was not pretty by any means, scars from the unethical operation left his shoulder a bright red, the texture uneven and puckered. Had she not been a nurse at a battalion aid station, Nicolette might have been sick.

Instead, she took advantage of his looking away, and leaned forward, startling him when she pressed her soft lips to his mutilated shoulder, half kissing skin, half metal.

"Do not be ashamed of this, Cheri. This is a battle scar. You survived a fall that would kill any other man. I am proud of you, I would never be scared of you, James. It does not matter what happens, I will always stand by your side, I will always love you. I have experienced a life without you once,

and I don't ever want to do so again. So please, don't turn away from me." Nikki ended her declaration by wrapping her arms around his bruised and bloodied body, her head resting on his metal shoulder, her face to his sweaty and bloody neck.

Still, James said nothing.

"...Does it hurt? When you use it." Nikki murmured, hoping to garner a verbal response but all she got was the lone metal arm lifting and placing itself tentatively around her back, just under her shoulder blades.

Nicolette sighed, feeling at home once more. She couldn't even imagine how painful it must have been for him. To have fallen so far and survive. And then have been taken and experimented on by Hydra...

However, her relief was short lived, as soon as the sigh left her lips, they heard the sounds of the door being unlocked. Nikki felt James tense underneath her, his arm tightening almost painfully around her middle.

"Ah, I see you have successfully reunited with the asset." While keeping a hold on James, Nicolette turned her head to face Zola once again

"What do you mean? Asset?" She demanded, glaring at him.

Zola smiled his creepy sadistic smile before he responded "After we have extracted all the information from him, he will be made into the perfect soldier for Hydra."

looking at him like he was crazy-which he is- she tightened he grip on her husbands weak and shaking form "You're insane if you think James will ever work for you." She spat

"Not willingly, no. But perhaps, with some incentive..." The bâtard mal(Evil bastard) grinned maliciously and gave a sort of hand signal.

Nikki's eyes widened when she realized what he was implying. And it appears that she wasn't the only one who picked up on Zola's train of thought, as she felt James' other arm wrap around her, both arms tightening to the point of pain, but she couldn't register it.

Not ten seconds later, three Hydra agents marched in, heading straight for James and Nikki.

"I am so sorry my Älskling systerdotter, but Hydra requires leverage to make the transition...smoother."

She was viciously pried from James, both of them protesting fiercely, clinging to one another. She felt a few of James' wounds reopen from her frantic grip, but neither cared, too wrapped up in trying to stay together to care.

"No! James! Let go of me, vous mal, malades , baise torsadées(1)! No! Stop! Let go! Please! James!" She screamed once they finally extracted her from her husband.

"Nikki! Nicolette!" Was the last thing she heard before the steel door with seven locks was closed.

And as the agents led Nikki-kicking and screaming down the hall, she could hear James banging on the door as hard as he could manage in his weak state.

She could even hear the difference between the metal arm hitting the door and his soft, broken flesh hitting it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~''''

"vous mal, malades , baise torsadées!" = "you evil, sick, twisted fuck!"

In response to Artemis7448's review: Thanks so much for the review! And thanks for the tip, as I had said at the end of some of the chapters, I use Google Translate-A not very reliable source-so the correction is more than appreciated, if you see any more mistakes, please bring them to my attention and I'll try to fix it ASAP!


	5. Punishment

WARNING: Rape.

If this makes you uncomfortable, please DO NOT FORCE YOURSELF. It's not overly descriptive, but...yeah. I'll put a warning up before it happens to allow you skip over it

P.S: The song for this chapter is 'Hold Me Now.' By Red.

* * *

Hearing the echo of James' yelling and pounding rang through Nikki's ears as she was taken into a small room that looked suspiciously like James' room, only without the bloody instruments and the stench.

"What do you want with me? What use could I possibly be to Hydra, vous sur crapaud grandi(You over grown toad)?" She demanded while the guards cuffed her hands behind her back and attached the chain to wall behind her. Like an animal.

The Toad stayed silent, watching Nicolette, smirking every time she winced at the tugging. It wasn't until after the guards left that the Toad began to talk.

Walking forward with a Manila folder in hand, stopping just outside of what the chain allows her to reach "Originally, the plan was to train the sergeant until perfection, then Hydra would wipe all his memories from before we saved him, and after the process is complete...Hydra will have it's own super soldier to do with what they please." The Toad ended his spiel, looking very satisfied at the horror on his niece's face.

Blinking away her shock, Nicolette realized something, "'Originally'. You said that was Hydra's original plan. What 'as changed?"

"duktig liten flicka(clever little girl). The original plan was, unfortunately, flawed. Hydra does not like flaws or the possibility of failure. So, we decided that the best way of making the sergeant cooperate would be to have some leverage. So I started a search for you, and now that we have you...I am beginning to think Hydra might have a more...extensive, use for you." And with that vague remark, the Toad left. Turning the lights off as he did, leaving her in pitch black. Luckily for Nicolette's eyesight was advanced enough that she could still see.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

She was not sure how long she'd have been in that dreadful room, it felt like weeks, but it had only been a few days.

Sitting in the dark, Nicolette realized, You learn a few things.

One, that in the dark, your other four senses heighten. Even though she could still see, she tried to keep her eyes closed most of the time, trying to train her hearing and sense of scent to be sharper.

Two, that at some point in time, Hydra placed a speaker system in her room. And they hooked it up to James' room. So now, Nikki can hear everything he says-or more accurately, everything he screams. She can't sleep. it seemed that every time she tried, Hydra tried a new experiment on James. She could constantly hear Zola talking throughout the experiment, like her own personal running commentary from hell.

And three, that Nikki had to hand it to Hydra; they know how to torture two people at the same time without even touching one of them.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''Nikki's POV!''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

I used to think that Hitler was the most evil man in the world. Especially after working as a nurse on the front lines. But after being locked in the same dark room for roughly ten days, with only one meal a day and limited water really makes you rethink some things.

On my- what I am guessing is my eleventh day, something changed.

I was laying on my cot, my hands still cuffed, but now they were in front of me, allowing me to lay as comfortably as possible, when I head the five locks on my door unlock and in walked a big burly Hydra agent. All I could see was his silhouette, the light from the hallway blinding my super sensitive eyes temporarily.

"aufstehen kleine Hündin." The guard said, apparently unaware of my lack of the ability to understand German. "jetzt! Ich befehle dir ! du Schlampe! JETZT(1)!"

I sat up slowly, not wanting to set the angry guard off by potentially disobeying from not understanding him.

"Aufstehen(Get up)!" I looked at him oddly, staying seated on my cot, feeling scared and distressed by the angry guard.

I cowered back as the guard stomped closer, grabbing me by my arms and yanking me into a standing position. "Bist du dumm!? Ich sagte, aufstehen(2)!" I cried out as I felt the guard squeeze my arm too hard. "What are you doing? Let me go!" I flailed as best I could with my hands bound together.

The guard payed me no heed as he uncuffed and recuffed my hands behind me and attached the chain to the wall, maybe Hydra was trying a new form of torture.

I quickly learned that I was not wrong.

~Trigger Warning!~

The guard started to run his hands along my body in a rough manner, leaving me feeling disgusted, but soon it began to escalate into something more. His hands wandered up into my shirt and that was when I started to scream. Some English, but mostly French.

When the guard ripped my shirt, I screamed profanities. When my skirt was removed, I screamed in sadness.

In nothing but my undergarments, I began to cry.

And when those were ripped off, I began to cry for James. For my husband, my darling amour(Love), to come and rescue me from the evil man. But he never did.

After the guard left me on the dirty floor, violated and beaten, lying in a puddle of tears, sweat and saliva and other bodily fluids, did I begin to quiet.

But what I was unaware of, was the fact that along with the speaker, Hydra also placed a microphone in my room. And it was hooked to the speaker in James' room. Punishing him, by punishing me.

~TW Over!~

'''''''''''''''''''

James' POV

'''''''''''''''''''

"verdammte Hure! aufhören zu schreien!"

"pas plus! S'il vous plaît!"

"Mehr bewegen!"

"s'il vous plaît , ne faites pas cela! Arrêtez!"

Two hours later, and all I can hear now is her sweet honey-like voice that I love so much, reduced to whimpers and sobs. It's killing me. I never thought Hydra could get any crueler, and then they do this. They punished my sweet angel in the most evil way possible, because I lashed out and attacked one of the 'doctors'.

I knew they were trying to get a reaction from me, it was obvious from the way they were talking; about Nikki's mutation, and how she would make an exceptional test subject with her enhanced vision. But now that I know the repercussions for acting out, I won't do it again.

I will do whatever I have to do to keep my Wife safe. Even if that means doing whatever Hydra wants. If it will keep Nicolette from ever feeling that pain and humiliation and violation.

Then never again.

* * *

"aufstehen kleine Hündin." = "Up, little bitch."

"jetzt! Ich befehle dir ! du Schlampe! JETZT!" = "Now, I command you! You bitch! NOW!"

"Bist du dumm!? Ich sagte, aufstehen!" = " Are you stupid!? I said, get up!"

So I was a little nervous to post this type of chapter, but I felt like it was kind of important for later, sorry if this makes you uncomfortable

Also, Words cannot describe my disdain for Google Translate! I hate it! BUT! I have the lovely help of Artemis7448, who has been an amazing help since I first uploaded this story a couple days ago. So, Thank you Artemis7448.


	6. Pieces

The song for this chapter; Pieces, by Red. P.S, the intro to this song is SUPER long, so I would skip to about 1:30 seconds in. Let me know what you guys think of the chapter!

Nicolette had seen many different types of injuries in her career as a army nurse, but she'd never been one to suffer such things

Until now, Nicolette had never had a cracked rib, or had to rub her own blood out of her eyes just to see. Or not be able to move her right shoulder out of pain.

While she was reflecting on her injuries, she failed to notice the door open.

"Get her dressed. She is to see the other Asset before we move along with our plans." She was startled to hear Zola's Swedish accent ring out in the tiny, dirty cell, he hadn't visited the room since she was locked up, about twelve days ago

Nicolette was yanked up from her place on the floor, where she was leaning her naked back against the dirty wall, her feet still in the puddle of bodily fluids. And they dragged her into the center of the room, where she was than shoved into what could barely be considered clothes. A large men's button up shirt and a pair of slacks that were obviously too long for her short body.

She was shoved into the shirt first, but it seems that Hydra does not have much patience, after she got four buttons done, the guards grabbed her. Not giving her the change to finish or put the way too big pants on.

And so Nicolette was dragged down the hall in nothing but a half button up-ed shirt, the top three buttons open, exposing the top of her stomach and bruised chest. She was weak and tired from how little food they gave gave her and how they beat her, so weak that her legs collapsed underneath her weight and she fell to the floor harshly. She wasn't there long though, two guards seized both of her bruised arms not-too-gently, and dragged her forward, feet scraping the cold floor behind her.

''''''''''

JAMES' POV

''''''''''

My everything hurt. My arms and legs. My back and chest. My head and my heart. It's been roughly two days since I was forced by those Hydra bastards to listen as my wife. MY WIFE! Was raped and beaten to the point of unconsciousness. And that is what hurt the most; being unable to protect my family.

Hydra had just finished an experiment on me. After I had attacked the 'doctors'. Hey, they were the one that had injected me with some sort of paralysis agent that took a while to kick in, soon after that happened I was forced listen as my beautiful wife was hurt and abused by Hydra for the sake of punishing me for what I did.

3RD PERSON POV

The door to James room, if you could call it that, Cell would be more accurate, opened, dragging his attention from his thoughts to the entryway. He was both shocked, disgusted and relieved to see Hydra agents, Zola, and his wife respectively.

James watched as his Nikki was dragged into the room, wearing nothing but a large button-up shirt with the top three buttons undone. Barely even covering her shaking and tiny body

"Congratulations, Sargent. We have decided to allow you to...properly embrace the married life, seeing as you have been without each other since you decided to be a hero. To join the army." Zola simpered

One of the guards roughly grabbed and shoved a beaten, bruised, bloody and tired Nicolette into James' strong metal and weak flesh arms, before turning to leave the prisoners alone with Zola

"We will begin our tests and experiments in three days time. I should suggest that you make up for lost time. One of you might not survive."

James glared as Zola strode out of their cell, before turning his attention towards his shaking wife.

He held her tightly as she clung to him, trying to get a close as possible, though James wasn't sure if she was seeking comfort or warmth. Either way, he wrapped his arms around her, protecting her from the outside world as best he could in this evil and twisted torture chamber known as Hydra

"I'm so cold." She shuffled closer, plastering herself to james' front, coiling her arm around him in what would have been a death grip were it not for her weak state

James leaned down and kissed the crown of her head, his lips lingering for a moment "I know. I'm sorry. This is all my fault. I-" He cut himself off, his voice shaking.

"It was not your fault, James. Don't say that." "But it was my fault. I lashed out and attacked one of the doctors, and to punish me...they- they...did that, to you." Nikki shook her head "James...they would have done it with or without using you as an excuse. Hydra is evil. Hydra raped me. Not you. Please mon amour, don't blame yourself."

James scoffed "How can I not? You're my wife, Nikki. I should have protected you."

Nikki pulled her head back, looking up at her husband she shook her head once more "You did not know what Hydra would do. I would rather take any punishment over knowing that Hydra has inflicted even more torture on you." "But I-" "James, please. Just...hold me."

James nodded, laying his cheek on the top of her head and rocking back and forth.

TWO DAYS LATER

Two men, one quite short and the other of average height walked down a long hallway, stopping at a single door with seven locks on it.

"And this is where you keep the 'guests'?" The taller man asked, looking approvingly at the cell door.

"Yes, we have the two subjects just inside."

The door opened with an ominous hiss, the light from the hallway illuminating the dark cell, as well as the two prisoners in it.

On top of the metal cot at the end of the cell, the two men saw a sight that garnered two very different responses. The first was of irritation and annoyance. The second-that of the taller man, was intrigue and fascination.

Laying on the cold, hard metal cot was their two test subjects- James and Nicolette Barnes, sleeping. With Nicolette on top of James, and James' metal arm wrapped around her shrinking waist, and his right hand intertwined with Nicolette's left. Her face was turned to the left, buried in James neck. Facing away from the door.

"They are constantly...comforting each other? Dr. Zola?"

Zola nodded his head, his beady eyes narrowing at the couple "It seems that when they are together, they are less frightened, scared, and anxious. They are sickeningly loyal to the other. Perhaps, it would be wise to separate them in the future? To make them more susceptible to Hydra suggestion with the promise of...shall we say...visitation rights?"

The man shook his head, voicing his thoughts "No. With this level of loyalty would only cause them to choose to not see each other, to not see the other's pain that they inflicted on the other. No. Don't reward them for being good, punish them for being bad.

"Use their loyalty against them, keep them together, make the other watch as their resistance gets their love hurt." The taller man smirked evilly, excited at the thought of a new experiment to test.

Zola nodded, leading the man out and locking the door behind them, "An excellent idea, Dr. Menkalm. An excellent idea, indeed."


	7. Changes

Please review! I would LOVE some feedback. It encouraged me to continue writing! I'm very pleased with the way this chapter came out So PLEASE let me know what you think! The song for this chapter is; Hymn For The Missing. by Red

~~~'~~~'~~~'~~~'~~~'~~~'~~~'

"This mutant girl, she could be my most promising test subject. Her eyes are simply astonishing. And I hope to amplify her ability to manipulate ones vision, should she prove to withstand my testings she could be more useful to Hydra than that 'Winter Soldier' project."

~~~'~~~'~~~'~~~'~~~'~~~'~~~'

A disoriented, blind and scared Nicolette was shoved into the cell. Unable to see anything, stumbling around, trying to make sense of the darkness, her hands out in front of her.

"James," She whimpered "James, where are you? James, help me, please. I-I can't see!"

Normally, James would be waiting to catch her, and help her to the cot and drag his fingers over her curves and dips and every scar that she's acquired over the last three months.

They both knew that she was tortured the most, that doctor, Dr. Menkalm, seemed to have an odd fascination with her glowing blue eyes. Poking and prodding her. All his tests and experiments leading up to this day, leaving Nicolette blinded temporarily, and stumbling around in search of her only safe haven. But after calling out to him, and reaching blindly, she knew that he was no longer there

With a whimper, Nicolette pulled herself blindly onto the cot and curled into the fetal position, tears soaking the white bandages over her eyes.

~~~'~~~'~~~'~~~'~~~'~~~'~~~'~~~'

 _"It appears that after approximately one month, our test subjects seem to have resigned themselves to not seeing the other. Subject 1 has proved to act irrationally and sporadically. While Subject 2 seems to simply... accept it. Not longer fighting us or hurting itself. The only act of resistance is that it seems Subject 2 is neglecting its food, we had to begin feeding the Subject using a Nasogastric Tube just too keep he-" The German scientist paused, clearing her throat before continuing her analysis report "-It. Just to keep it alive and conscious."_

~~~'~~~'~~~'~~~'~~~'~~~'~~~'

"Where's Nicolette?! What have you bastards done with her?! Where is she?!" He whispered weakly, James hadn't stopped banging on the door and yelling for Nicolette since that day she didn't return to their cell. Obviously, Hydra had sent her to another cell, but why? What had he done? He hadn't fought any of the so-called doctors, so it wasn't that. If Nikki disobeyed, then they would have punished him, like last time. He hoped. So, he wondered, why were they keeping her from him?

~~~'~~~'~~~'~~~'~~~'~~~'~~~'

 _"But Subject 1, it seems has taken the new arrangement in a much more...violent manner."_

~~~'~~~'~~~'~~~'~~~'~~~'~~~'

And after over a month of not seeing or hearing of her, he gave up. Figuring her to be dead. James mourned her. Crying, screaming, fighting, hurting himself more than Hydra already was. It wasn't until Hydra began to realize that he was trying to kill himself that they truly became concerned over their new experiment.

~~~'~~~'~~~'~~~'~~~'~~~'~~~'

 _"We cannot allow the subjects to continue in this manner. We need to either let them see each other again, or remove one indefinitely."_

 _"You are absolutely sure about this? I don't want to have to stop this experiment if I don't have to."_

 _"Yes sir."_

 _"Very well, shove them in the cell again. And make sure I am not disturbed again today."_

 _"Yes sir. Hail Hydra!"_

 _"Hail Hydra."_

~~~'~~~'~~~'~~~'~~~'~~~'~~~'

With a silent hiss, the heavy metal door slid open, but James didn't even blink, just some Hydra doctor's checking on their labrat again

"Alright, Subject one appears to be calm and benign at the moment, bring in Subject two." A rather high pitched voice for a man squeaked semi-quietly

James didn't even register the thud and squeaking sounds of a human body being dragged and dropped into the dirty cell floor, too lost in his fight to hide inside his mind. After all, His wife was gone, his best friend was gone, and he was just a stubborn source of out-dated information. He had nothing left.

About two hours after the guards left, James - who hadn't moved an inch - was pulled from is mind when he barely heard the sounds of a low, pained groan that sounded so very familiar

He turned his cold, shaking body slowly, with a sense of trepidation and fear settling in the pit of his stomach. It wasn't the first time he'd thought he'd heard her, but still, every time he had to make sure for himself

So, finally, he turned his sore and tired body, his empty, yet somehow still hopeful gaze fell upon a small, far too small to be healthy figure, with a snow white mane, too pale skin and most shocking was the barely open eyes; a glowing, vivid blue ringed with a thick band of black around the iris, and over the pupil the blue swirled inward, almost covering the pupil completely

But it was her. There was no doubt in his mind that that was his Nikki. James, as quickly as he could in his beaten body would allow, crawled to his catatonic wife lying in a crumpled heap on the grimy floor

She looked so different. So broken. Her eyes blank and starting into the void.

Her breathing shallow and labored, cheeks sunken and skin dull, robbed of the beautiful glow and she'd always had. Under the blood stained, flimsy surgery gown, James could see her ribs protruding from her skin grotesquely, accentuating how little food she'd had. Not that he was much better.

James didn't know what to do. Was this how Nikki felt when she found me like this? James thought to himself,

"Nikki...?" He whispered, his voice hoarse, looking for any reaction from her, but nothing. She didn't even blink.

James tentatively placed a hand on Nicolette's cheek, startled by how feverish it was, he then grabbed her hand, it was a striking contrast of her dangerously hot head, her limp hand felt like she had held it in ice water for a few hours, stiff and cold and numb, with long, intricate markings on them, like someone had decided to carve henna into her perfect hands, James followed the trail all the way to her bony shoulder, the skin puckered around the slices, like they were new, which didn't surprise James in the slightest, he wouldn't put it past Hydra to do something like that only for the sake of doing it.

"Nicole?" One of James' favorite things to do was call her Nicole, because out of all the nicknames Nicolette has had, Nicole was her least favorite. And when James found out...well, let's just say that She didn't talk to her boyfriend of sixteen months for about two weeks until he promised to stop calling her that

He gently pulled her to him, as James sat leaning against a wall, Nikki let a low, pained groan slip, making James smile bitter-sweetly as best he could with such dried and chapped lips

Flattening his shaking hand on her malnourished stomach, James waited to feel the inner-workings of her body move, He could feel her blood coursing through her body, could feel the expand of her lungs with every shallow breath

He gently placed his head to his wife's skeletal chest, ear pressed to the left side, listening for her heart beat, when he found it, it was light and thready, barely pumping the blood the way it should, concerning him, but it had been so long since he'd seen her, since he'd held her in his arms, though weak they were, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her body closer to his own, relishing in the feeling of her near him. It didn't matter to him that they were both emaciated and weak. To James, everything was perfect. In that moment -in that bubble- with his perfect, beautiful, stunning, flawless, alluring, gorgeous, ravishing, divine and exquisite wife, nothing else mattered. Not Hydra. Not their scars and pains. Not their malnourished state. Nothing. Nothing in the world but the two of them.

He slowly peppered her lulling head and neck with gentle, lethargic kisses. Silently celebrating when he felt her start to react to his ministrations, a slight movement of her fingers, a turn of the head, a pained grunt, until she finally woke up

"...J'ms?" Her voice was harsh and a rough sounding, like she had spent long hours screaming at the top of her lungs, but it was like music to him all the same. After thinking her dead for over a month, that sound was the most exquisite sound he'd ever heard

"Yeah babygirl, it's me." He whispered, tears pooling in his eyes as Nicolette came out of her incoherence

"James. Ev-everything hurts, James." She whimpered, itching to hold James as he was her, but her injuries didn't even allow her to bend her arms

She could feel James nodding his head, tucking it into her bruised neck, kissing it with the desperateness of a husband that hadn't seen his wife in ten years

"I know, I know babygirl. But it's okay, we'll be alright, I know it." James held her tighter, releasing her begrudgingly when he felt her flinch back in pain, though it hurt him to have to let her go, he hated the thought that he might've hurt her. But the low, keening whine that emitted from her mouth made him draw her closer, somehow knowing that that was what she wanted. What she needed.

"How can you know? Everything seems so dark. So lost." She cried, eyes dry.

James kissed her forehead, unable to stop himself from proving to himself that she was there. With him.

"Because. We have each other. And that's all that matters."

"I love you, James. So, so much."

"Me too, Nikki. I love you more than words could ever say."


	8. A New Dawn For Hydra

uper super super super slight spoilers for CACW! Nothing too important, it's at the VERY beginning, and nothing that will ruin the movie for ANYONE! P.S- The song for this chapter is: Feed The Machine, by...You guessed it! Red!

"Toska, rzhavyye, semnadtsat', rassvet, pech', Devyat', dobrokachestvennaya, vozvrashcheniye domoy, odin, Gruzovoy avtomobil'" Translated, that means ten words that would seem innocent and random to anyone, but their use is malicious in its intent. Those ten words held more evil and viciousness then a haunted mansion. Words, that were put together so very long ago, the people saying them had almost forgot where they came from

"Longing, Rusted, Seventeen, Daybreak, Furnace, Nine, Benign, Homecoming, One, Freight Car."

Pain exploded behind his eyes, traveling all the way down to his toes, racking throughout his body torturously, but not once did he say anything. He wasn't allowed to. He knew that if he did, there'd be hell to pay, and it would not necessarily his hell.

"uchityvaya , stul, molotok, poteryal, vyrazheniye , khorosho, limon, kabina, umnyy, shmel'," Translated, that means ten words that would seem innocent and random to anyone, but their use is malicious in its intent. Those ten words hold more evil and viciousness then a haunted mansion. Words that were put together so very long ago, the people saying them had almost forgot where they came from

"Given, chair, hammer, lost, expression, well, Lemon, cabin, clever, bumble bee,"

Pain exploded behind her eyes, traveling all the way down to her toes, racking throughout her body torturously, but not once did she say anything. She wasn't allowed to. She knew that if she did, there'd be hell to pay, and it would not necessarily her hell.

"Good morning, Soldier."

"Ready to comply."

"Good morning, Shadow."

"Happy to comply."

This assemblage of miss-matched words that have such evil intentions was created by German doctor Joseff Menkalm, the head Psychologist of Hydra in the 40's, 50's and 60's. An expert at getting inside ones head and manipulating it. Excelling at the art of torture and inflicting pain, and he did just that and more to two of the strongest people the world had never seen;

James 'Bucky' Buchanan Barnes, and his wife, Nicolette 'Nikki' Demetria Barnes were kidnapped and experimented on by countless Hydra doctors, scientists, guards that had nothing else to do, and so many more unqualified people

They were relentlessly trained in the art of combat. Viciously punished if they failed or disobeyed, Hydra's leash on the two was about two inches long.

It had been fifteen years since Hydra had taken Nicolette, and sixteen since they found James at the bottom of the ravine, and since then the two had been relentlessly tortured, both mentally and physically, they were tied up and left to rot, unfed for days on end, underwent countless waterboarding sessions, sleep deprivation, isolation, exposure to extreme temperatures, enclosure in tiny spaces, bombarded with agonizing sounds at extremely damaging levels, Standing for days, stress positions and Metacommunication. Of course, Hydra thought of more, but they're too malign to mention

First, Hydra broke them. Then Hydra would train them, into the perfect weapons. The perfect assassins. The perfect, mindless, obedient slaves. And then, Hydra would shape the world to their standards, manipulating every world event till the it was perfect for taking over. And with their obedient dogs, they would rule. Taking out anyone everyone that stands in their way.

After five more years of 'training,' they were ready. Ready to do whatever they were told. Without thought, remorse, hesitation or question.

Hydra had finally completed their mission. Losing more than a few men along the way, but it didn't matter. The new Fist and Dagger of Hydra had completely forgotten who they once were

Now, they were nobody.

Now, they were the Winter Soldier and the Silver Shadow.

A/N The Words for Silver Shadow actually were thought out, and have meaning. so, yeah...


	9. The Silver Shadow

Short chapter, but whatever. No song for this chapter. sorry. hope you enjoy it!

* * *

"Congratulations on your tenth successful mission, Shadow. A great triumph for Hydra."

All the Hydra staff in the room clapped as though they were at a birthday party and the birthday girl just blew out the candles, and not at all like they were celebrating the death of yet another innocent

"That man was a threat to Hydra, you did well. Now, with president Kennedy gone, we are one more step closer to world peace."

The Silver Shadow said nothing, only giving a single nod as acknowledgement before two guards came to escort her back to her cell she shared with her partner; The Winter Soldier.

The best of the best, the Soldier and Shadow knew full well that they were good at what they did, and they thought they were doing the right thing, but of course, they didn't know any better. Their minds had been wiped countless times, and when they couldn't remember anything about who they were. That's where Hydra filled in, pouring propaganda about the world that needed saving until they unquestioningly believed it. Now they were slaves to Hydra, whether they knew it or not.

Forced to do their bidding, lest they be punished. But still, throughout all the torture and conditioning and training, one thing stuck with them. One thing always bled through. One thing Hydra couldn't seem to get rid of no matter how hard they tried.

The Shadow and the Soldier knew each other. They didn't know how, or why. But something inside them made them want to protect the other by any means necessary.

There were somethings that they didn't understand, like how they both felt more comfortable around the other, more safe, secure. They had put multiple missions at risk when if one of them got injured, opting to check on the others safety rather than do their job. It had lost them their feeding rights more than once, but still, they couldn't seem to help themselves. And hell hath no fury like the rage of a vengeful lover, whether they remembered each other or not. The Soldier and Shadow had yet to actually fail a mission, but the very prospect of putting a mission at jeopardy was enough to cost them food for two weeks.

For unexplained reasons, despite having two army grade cots, the two always slept together on the same bed, facing each other, back-to-back, spooning, one on top of the other, but always touching.

They were able to communicate almost nonverbally, and for the life of them, Hydra couldn't figure out why.

When Shadow was returned to her cell, she found herself alone save for an average sized brown paper box, lying innocently on the cot.

She approached the cot, using her mutated-vision to check inside for anything hostile, but saw nothing. Then, she spotted a small note on top of the box

"Dear Shadow ~

It pleases me to write this, your success has given Hydra the opportunity it needed,

As a reward, we have decided to gift you with a new uniform,

We hope you enjoy it.

~ Hydra"

She carefully regarded the package before deftly opening it, finding herself curious.

Taking note of everything she pulled out, she was slightly surprised by the new uniform;

A black and silvery-gray halter top corset, a pair of utilitarian cargo pants, followed by military-grade boots, two thigh holsters, a hip and chest holster, arm guards with pockets for throwing knives, a utility belt with many pockets and more hidden 'compartments' (For lack of a better word), more blade holders, ect.

At the bottom, Shadow found a long trench coat, made up of nomex thread and kelvar fibers, shredded from the hips down in the back, allowing maximum maneuverability of the legs, it had the same color scheme as the rest of the outfit, black as the main and silvery-gray as secondary.

She quickly stripped her sweat soaked clothes from her exhausted body, slipping into a pair of gray sweat pants and a black tank top, She put away her new uniform for her next mission, instead, taking a seat on the cot and grabbing the cotton blanket, wrapping it around her shoulders while she waited for her partner.

When he got back, The soldier was covered in blood, a few gashes were left by the Hydra medics, they knew that the Shadow was capable of taking care of them, no reason why they should waste time when they've already dealt with the important wounds.

Shadow stood swiftly, while the Soldier sat down on the never used cot and stripped off his armored vest and shirt, waiting for Shadow to come back with a wet cloth and clean him up like always.

"So, what happened this time?" She asked, gently pressing the cloth to some dried blood to loosen it before wiping it away

"Well, there was this strip club, an anti-stripper protest and a raccoon..."The Soldier trailed off, flexing the fingers on his metal hand, somewhat awkwardly.

"...Alright."

* * *

Hey everybody! so I just recently received a review from a i guest that I feel like I should address. First off: It was never my intention to 'scare the s***' out of you. And I'm super sorry that it made you uncomfortable, however, I feel like I should explain some things about myself.

I love World War II stuff. More specifically, the dark, macabre, creepy stuff. I know that that's not very orthodox. I have had some trouble in real life because of it. People think that if I like dark, creepy things, I must be dark and creepy. But the point in telling you this is that, even though this story may make you uncomfortable-and if it does, please don't read this. I know it's a little late for that warning, but stuff like this really did happen back then. People were starved, forced into manual labor, were treated so inhumanly it makes me sick. Yes this story is dark. And I sometimes have trouble writing it with how dark it is. The Germans violated so many human rights. Human experimentation. Mass extermination. Millions were killed in the concentration camps alone.

I sometimes forget that not everybody is as comfortable as I am with such harsh realities. I have changed the summery to feature a trigger warning, as was suggested, (Thank you for that, btw. It really needed it.) And I also feel like I should tell you, after this chapter, things get lighter.

Thank you so much for the review, **Marlo Broersen**. My recommendation is, you should take that warm bath and eat chocolate for days. In fact, do that whether you have a reason or not. Thanks so much for taking the time to review my story. it means so much to me!


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